Album Review: Charles Kelley’s ‘The Driver’

Overall a solid release, The Driver showcases Charles Kelley's ability to make each song his own, whether he wrote the track or simply sang on it.

Written by Annie Reuter
Album Review: Charles Kelley’s ‘The Driver’

Well known as one-third of Grammy-award winning trio Lady Antebellum, Charles Kelley is focusing on his solo career as the band takes time off from the road and recording. His debut solo release The Driver, out Feb. 5, includes nine tracks where he leaps outside his comfort zone to showcase his personal musical style.

“This album was all about just making something I could be really proud of,” Kelley says in a press release.

Kelley admits that while it was strange to go into the studio without Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood of Lady A, it was exciting to be the one in charge and making the final decisions for his project.

“It was the most fun I’ve had in the studio, because everything felt new again. It took me out of my comfort zone, ”  he adds. “While so many of these songs are something I specifically can relate to, it really is all of our story. It is a pure musical left turn, to take myself out of my own head and bring in a fresh perspective when we go back in to make the next Lady Antebellum record.”

Charles Kelley - The Driver Album

The album kicks off with the energetic and grooving ’70s-esque jam “Your Love” which was written by Abe Stoklasa and Ashley Ray. Kelley says he’s had the song sitting around for five years with the hope to one day record it. It’s a song that highlights his powerful and surprisingly gritty vocals and sets the tone for the more throwback sound of The Driver.

“Your Love” segues into Kelley’s current single and title track “The Driver,” which is nominated for a Grammy and features Eric Paslay and Dierks Bentley. A song that he co-wrote, “The Driver” tells the tale of life on the road for the people behind-the-scenes of a music tour and shows a softer side to Kelley with emotive vocals. A departure from the rollicking “Your Love,” it demonstrates his power as a songwriter and solo artist.

Other highlights on the album include his poignant cover of Tom Petty’s “Southern Accents” which Stevie Nicks is featured on as well as the stripped down “The Only One Who Gets Me,” a song he wrote for his wife Cassie. He tells Sounds Like Nashville it was one of the last songs he wrote for the project.

“I went in with Nathan Chapman one day and started two other ideas and it just felt like I was chasing something,” he shares. “He goes, ‘What have you never written?’ And I said, ‘Honestly, I’ve never written a song about my wife that was just my story.'”

Kelley explains that every love song he has written for Lady Antebellum always had some of Scott and Haywood’s stories in it so Chapman urged him to focus on solely writing his love story. He wrote from the perspective of finding his wife and her seeing what he calls “the good, the bad and the ugly.”

“I’ve got a lot of little quirks and moments that my wife, she knows exactly what to say and how to handle me because I can be hard to handle,” he adds.

In the opening line of the song he sings, “Kinda selfish, little crazy, but you love me anyway baby,” alongside grooving electric guitar and wavering pedal steel.

Meanwhile, the most heartbreaking song is album closer “Leaving Nashville,” which is a chilling story about the often quick rise and fall of fame as a Nashville songwriter. The track includes piano and string accompaniment that furthers the haunting element of the tale that has the character fluctuating between two months away from living in his car and a hit single on the radio.

Overall a solid release, The Driver showcases Kelley’s ability to make each song his own, whether he wrote the track or simply sang on it. While the music reveals his influences, it also demonstrates his power as a solo artist. He says the release will allow him to bring a fresh perspective to Lady Antebellum, but it’s safe to say he can hold his own by himself just as well.